What if Mamma Mia
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if John came back, too.
1. Chapter 1

What if John came back as well

John looked around. The last thing he remembered was handing the Colt over to Yellow Eyes. Well, he had a vague memory of some chest pain and Sam yelling over him, but that was it. He knew he had died, but then, here he was in the woods somewhere. He looked around and started walking towards the traffic sounds. At least he wasn't deep in the woods.

SSS

John flagged down a car.

"Where you headed?"

Good question, John thought. "Sioux Falls," he decided. Since Pastor Jim was dead, Bobby was really the only hunter he knew with a steady address. Well, there was always the Roadhouse, but Ellen had never met the boys and he had gotten her husband killed. Bobby was mad at him, too, but seemed the more logical choice.

"I'm not going anywhere near that far, but I'll take you as far as I'm going."

"Thanks," John said, climbing into the front seat. "We're in Missouri, now, right?"

"That's right."

They rode the rest of the way in silence with John trying to figue out why he was back. He hoped that Dean hadn't figured out what he had done and sold his soul to make amends. That sounded like something Dean would do.

SSS

Three days and John wasn't sure how many drivers later he was dropped off in front of a diner in Sioux Falls. The last driver gave him some money to get something to eat. He was starving. After seeing a newspaper, he realized that he hadn't eaten in 10 years and the last two days had provided him no opportunity. As he walked in the door he saw a woman about her age and two girls, one blonde, one brunette, in their late teens. He started to walk by them when he overheard a bit of their conversation.

"But, I want to hunt," she said.

"Shh," the older woman said. "Claire, keep your voice down."

John perked up. Somehow he didn't think they were talking about deer.

"Why would anyone want to be a hunter?" The brunette teen asked. "All I want is a normal life."

John felt like he was getting deja vu. It was Sam and Dean all over again. He got up and walked over to the table.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear," he said.

"Um," the woman started.

John looked around and lowered his voice. "It's OK, I know what kind of hunting you're talking about. I raised my kids in it, and if I had to do it all again..." He stopped.

"What?" Claire asked.

"I was going to say, I wouldn't have ever become a hunter. But then what would have happened to the people I saved. And the others those monsters would have killed. I don't know."

"I'm Jodie Mills," the woman said, sticking out her hand. "I'm a very part-time hunter and the full-time sherriff."

"John Winchester," John said, returning her handshake. "Do you know if Bobby Singer is around?"

Jodie had so many thoughts going through her head she couldn't process them all. "Winchester? Are you related to Sam and Dean?"

"They're my sons."

"I thought their dad was dead," Claire said, suspsiciously.

"What's dead doesn't always stay dead," John replied. "Anyway, I'm trying to track them down and I figured Bobby might know where they were."

"He probably would, except he died a few years back," Jodie said trying not to tear up.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Bobby was a good man."

"yes, he was," Jodie agreed, pulling out her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" John asked, wondering if he should have ever come over here.

"Dean," Jodie answered.

SSS

Dean and Mary were in the bunker. Dean had just gotten off the phone with Cas. He was trying to get a fix on where Sam might be. His phone rang. He didn't think it couldn't be Cas again so quickly. Even so, he was disappointed when he looked at the display and knew this had nothing to do with Sammy.

"Hey, Jodie. What's up?" If she wanted help with a hunt she was on her own, but if she just had a quick question, he was just waiting on Cas at this point.

"There's someone here who says he's your father," Jodie said.

Dean looked at Mary. She could only hear his end of the conversation, but not certain of what was going on, he got up and walked away from her and into the kitchen. "Put him on," he said. He supposed it was possible. His mother was back, after all. Perhaps Amara was giving him his whole family.

"Dean," he heard in his father's voice. The one he hadn't heard for 10 years. OK, 9 if you count the crocatta.

"Dad, is that really you?" he asked.

"It's me," John answered.

"Put Jodie back on," Dean said.

"Dean," Jodie said when the phone had been switched over.

"Did you test him?"

"Test him?" Jodie asked, wondering what she was supposed to ask.

"Yeah, silver, salt, holy water," Dean clarified.

"Well, I'm fresh out of holy water," Jodie said as she watched John pick up Claire's fork and dumped the salt shaker over his hand, "but we appear to be clear with salt and silver."

"Great," Dean said, realizing that holy water, was probably the biggie. But, he didn't have time to worry about that now.

"Dean, where are you?" John asked.

"Lebanon, Kansas," Dean answered. "You should get down here, ASAP."

"Is Sam there?" John asked.

Dean paused. "He's been kidnapped. I've got a friend working on tracking down his location."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," John said hanging up.

"What is it?" Jodie asked, noticing a change in John's expression.

"Sam's been kidnapped. Dean's in Lebanon, Kansas. I have to get down there."

"I'll take you," Jodie decided. "Girls go home."

"But, I can help," Claire said.

"Not now, Claire," Jodie said, grabbing her keys and throwing some money down on the table.


	2. Chapter 2

Cas stood outside the farmhouse. He was pretty sure this was where whoever had taken him was keeping Sam, but i was warded against him. He pulled out his phone to call Dean.

"Cas, what do you have?"

"I found him. I'll text you the address. I can't get in. It's warded."

"OK, I'm on my way." He hung up.

"You mean we're on our way," Mary corrected him.

"Mom, I won't be able to save Sam if I'm worried about you."

"You don't have to worry. I can take care of myself. And I'm coming. I'm the mom. I make the rules."

Dean wasn't sure how to respond to that. The last time he saw his mom he wasn't quite 5 years old. Of course, she made the rules. But, he had let his dad make all the rules up until he died. He sighed. "come on, then."

He slid behind the wheel of his beloved Impala (A/N, sorry I had to), and pulled out his phone as he started the car.

"Who are you calling?" Mary asked.

Dean hadn't told Mom about Dad being back. He guessed now was a good of time as any. "Remember that phone call I got earlier?"

"yeah."

"It was a friend of mine saying Dad showed up. I talked to him on the phone. She tested him. Seems legit. They're on their way here. I'm going to have them meet us in Missouri."

Mary nodded. She wasn't sure what to say. People coming back from the dead. This really wasn't supposed to be common. And Dean had only told her that John had died about 20 years after her. She hadn't asked if he had moved on with anyone and Dean hadn't volunteered that informtion one way or another. Well, first things first. They had to save Sam.

Dean was getting off the phone when she came out of her reverie. "From where Jodie said they were they should get there about the same time we do."

"Good," Mary said for lack of anything better to say.

SSS

Toni looked at the security monitor and noticed a man hovering around outside. Then she recognized him. He was that angel. Well, that was perfect. She went outside, touched a sigil and he was blown away to wherever angels went when you did that. She really would have to figue that out someday. So much knowledge to be had. So little time to find it. She sighed and went down to the basement to continue with her current fact-finding mission.

"Your little angel friend was just here. I figure we have 24 hours before he shows up again. So, we'll have to move this along faster." She had had dean taken care of yesterday, so there really shouldn't have been anyone for the angel to alert.

"Screw you," Sam said.

"That's all you ever say," Toni complained. She grabbed the blow torch. She wanted to be gone before the angel came back. Depending on how cooperative Sam became, she would either take him with her, or leave his bloody body behind.

"let's resume," she said as she held the blow torch to his arm and listened to Sam's screams.

SSS

Dean pulled up on the road outside the farmhouse. He saw Jodie and his dad leaning up against Jodie's truck talking. He looked over at his mom. She seemed nervous. "You ready?"

"Give me a mintue," Mary said.

Dean got out of the car. "Hey, Dad."

"Is that your mother?" John asked.

Oh, yeah. Dean had told Mary about John, but hadn't told John about Mary.

"Yes."

"How long has she been back?" John asked, wondering if she'd been around for years.

"Couple of days. Same as you I would imagine." Dean heard the door of the Impala creaking open.

"Hi, John," Mary said shyly.

"Mary," John cried and walked up and hugged her.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked Jodie.

"Who's Cas?" Jodie replied.

"he's the one who found Sam. You haven't seen him?"

"We haven't seen anyone."

"OK. Mom, Dad, you stay here. Jodie and I are going in."

"What? No!" they both said at the same time.

"Look, I can't worry about you two. I have to concentrate on Sam. Besides, we need someone to watch and make sure nobody else comes," Dean said and turned around, pulling Jodie with him, leaving no time for argument.

When they had gotten a little ways away, Mary said, "We're not staying back are we?"

"Of course not," John said. "We'll just give them a little head start."

SSS

Dean and Jodie walked up to the house. Dean saw a bulk head that would lead down to the basement. He pointed and Jodie nodded. They walked over, and Dean tugged up on the door. It didn't budge, but the ground glowed light and then they found themselves falling.

Toni heard the crash and then saw two bodies tumbling towards her. She grabbed the knife she had just been using to cut Sam's stomach, crouched behind him and put it up to his throat.

"Dean?" Sam whispered. "I thought you were dead." He was so relieved that his brother was alive that it took him a minute to realize that neither of them probably would be shortly.

Dean and Jodie were springing up, guns in hand.

"Put them down," Toni demanded.

"Don't," Sam begged. This lady was crazy. He was dead either way. And, honestly, at the moment, death sounded preferable to all the pain he was feeling.

Toni, pulled back on Sam's hair and pressed the knife tight to his throat. She knew she couldn't take on both of them. They had to surrender.

Dean looked over at Jodie and nodded. They laid down their guns.

"Good. Now chain yourselves up," Toni commanded, pointing to two sets of cuffs hanging from the ceiling. She had been planning on gathering other hunters from Sam's intel after all, so she was prepared for more guests.

With their weapons surrendered they had no choice. They cuffed themselves and Dean got his first good look at Sam. "I'm going to kill you," he promised when he saw all the burns, cuts, and bruises.

"Big talk for someone chained up," Toni said. "But, maybe what you will do is tell me what I want to know to stop the pain," she said as she once again dug the knife into Sam's side and let him scream.

"SAMMY!" Dean yelled. 


	3. Chapter 3

Sam couldn't take it anymore. He wasn't even sure how long he had been here. He screamed again.

"Wait, wait. I'll tell you everything," Dean said. "Just stop."

Sam would have rolled his eyes if he didn't think it would hurt too much. This bitch had really done her research. But, before Dean could say another work the door burst open. Sam looked over. He decided he was hallucinating again. Maybe Dean wasn't dead, but his parents sure as hell were.

Two shots rang out nearly simultaneously and Toni plunged to the floor. Sam had just enough to time to hope that whatever weird hallucination he was having at least had some kernel of truth to it as he stopped fighting it and lost consciousness.

John reached down to make sure the woman who was torturing his son was dead. "Keys?" he asked Dean.

"On the desk, Dean nodded over to the corner of the room.

Mary grabbed them and unlocked Dean from the wall. "Unlock Jodie," he said as he went to check on Sam.

"Sammy?" he asked as he felt for a pulse. He exhaled with relief when he found one, but there was no response from his brother.

"Is he OK?" asked three voices at once.

"He's alive," was all that Dean knew for sure. Mary was handing him the keys and he set to work on Sam's restraints. How were they going to get him outside without hurting him?

"CAS!" he yelled.

His phone rang. He grabbed it without checkign the display. "Dean, it's Cas."

"Are you outside?" Dean asked figuring Cas had heard him yelling.

"No, I got blown away a bit farther than the last time."

"Where are you?" They needed to meet up quick so he could heal Sam. They were still going to have to get him out to the car, though.

"i think I'm in Siberia."

"As in Russia?"

"Yes."

Crap. Cas didn't have a passport. "I'll figue it out," Cas said, reading Dean's mind. "Have you gotten to Sam yet?"

"Yeah. He's hurt pretty bad. Was kind of hoping you could fix him up."

"Sorry," Cas said.

"Not your fault. We have to get out of here in case anybody else shows up," Dean said hanging up the phone. "Dad, help me carry him."

John went over and lifted up Sam's legs, while Dean lifted under his arms. A moan escaped from Sam, but he didn't wake up.

"What did she do to him?" Mary asked.

"Your basic three, burning, cutting, hitting," Dean growled. He wished he could bring her back to life, so he could make her die slow.

They slowly made their way out to the car. "Hospital?" Jodie asked.

Dean didn't see a way around it. Sam was bleeding, and he was burning up. He probably had an infection from all the cuts and burns. But how were they going to explain this?

"Do you think he can make it to Sioux Falls?" Jodie asked. "I can take him in. Say I found him on the side of the road and that it looked like he'd been dumped. With me handling the investigation, we just won't find anything."

Dean nodded. That would work. They were only six hours away. Sam could make it.

"Put him in my car. I'll call you later," Jodie said.

"Can we trust her?" John asked. Everything was starting to seem a bit convenient.

"Absolutely. She's come through for us on more than one occasion," Dean assured his father.

They loaded Sam into Jodie's truck and they headed off to South Dakota while the rest of the winchesters headed back to the bunker.

"we're not going with them?" Mark asked.

"Believe me, Mom, the last thing I want to do right now is leave Sammy, but if we show up before we can be notified, we'll be suspected. Even with Jodie as sherriff, she won't be able to protect us. And she has to pretend she doesn't know who Sam is so she can't contact us until he wakes up." If he wakes up, dean refused to say out loud.

"Dean's right" John said. "So, how did we end up alive, Dean?"

"God's sister brought you back."

"What?"

"It wont' sound any less weird with more explanation. Trust me."

"Who is this Cas that you keep talking about? Can he heal Sam?" John asked remembering the one-sided conversation he heard earlier.

"He could. But, he's in Russia. I'm not sure how he'll get back."

"How did he get to russia? You said he was the one that found Sam."

"Apparently that dead bitch blasted him away with an angel-repelling sigil."

"There's no such thing as angels."

Mary smiled remembering that was what he had said two days ago. She shuddered to realize that Sam had been tortured for more than two days while she sat around in a bunker getting used to being alive again.

"This must all seem so strange to you, Mary," John said, turning to look at Mary in the back seat.

"not as much as you might think," Dean answered for her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked.

"I was a hunter before we got married," Mary said.

"We got married at 19," John countered.

"I was raised in the life. Much like I understand you raised Sam and Dean. You know that is the last thing I would have wanted," Mary accused.

"How could i have possibly known that when you never even told me about hunting. Where are we going?" John asked changing the subject.

"Home," Dean answered.

"You actually have a home?" John was happy about that, but surprised.

"Why wouldn't they have a home?" Mary asked. "You lived someplace while they were growing up, right?"

"Well, we just moved around from town to town," John admitted.

"Unbelievable," Mary said under her breath. At least she had had a stable home.

"We live in an old abandoned Men of Letters bunker," Dean said, wanting nothing more than to get there, so he could disappear while his parents hashed this out.

"Men of letters? What's that?"

"It's an old society of people that basically studied the supernatural. Your father was one."

"is that why he left me? To study the supernatural?" John supposed he shouldn't be so judgmental. It wasn't like he had ever won father-of-the-year.

"Not exactly. He time travelled to escape a demon and pass the key of the bunker on to you when the rest of the Men of Letters were killed. I guess his spell went a little wrong because he ended up in time after you were dead and the demon followed him. Long story short, the demon grabbed Sammy to make a trade and Henry died to protect him and the key."

"So, he didn't leave me? He died?" This was going to be a lot to take in.

"We're here," Dean said pulling into the bunker garage. "I'm going to go make us some dinner while you guys talk"


	4. Chapter 4

Jodie pulled into Sioux Falls General and laid on her horn. She still didn't completely trust this place since she had seen her surgeon eating her roommate, but Bobby had assured her the big mouths had left the area shortly after that.

Two doctors came out. "What do you have sherriff?"

"I found this man out near the river. Looks like someone dumped him."

"How did you get him in your truck by yourself?" This guy weighed a ton.

"he was awake," Jodie said. "Just long enough to get him inside." She hoped that lie wouldn't affect his care. Kid hadn't woken up since Dean had put him in there.

"OK, you got a name?"

"Nope. Let me know when he wakes up," Jodie said, knowing it would seem weird if she waited around the hospital.

"Will do."

SSS

"So, you were a hunter?"

"Yep."

"Did that have anything to do with the fact that you kept insisting that your father died of a heart attack when he had clearly been stabbed after attacking me?" John had always just assumed Samuel had gone crazy and Mary had stabbed him. Especially when they went back to her house and found her mother dead also

"Yes. That's my biggest shame, but I'm not sure if I could go back I could do it any differently," Mary cast her eyes down.

"What happened?" John used in a gentle tone that almost sounded foreign to his ears. That tone had left him when Mary died.

"The yellow-eyed demon possessed my father and killed my mother, then stabbed himself. Or the other way around. I don't really know for sure. Anyway, then he came out and dragged you out of the car. He broke your neck. You were dead." Mary began.

"What? I don't remember being dead. I thought he just knocked me out. How did I come back."

"The demon said he could bring you back. He would just want something in ten years. Not my soul. I knew he was a demon. I knew it couldn't be good, but I said yes anyway. I coldn't bear to be alone."

"Sammy," John realized.

Mary nodded her head sadly. "I started all this."

"On the other hand, there wouldn't have been a Sam or a Dean otherwise," John pointed out.

"That's why I don't think I could go back and not save you. That and you, of course," Mary smiled.

Dean walked back in the room. "Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes."

"Dean, what happened with Sam?" John asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't see any big demon army hanging around."

"That reminds me, Dad. Would it have killed you to have let us in on the loop a bit now and then. Maybe if we had known more, we would have been more prepared."

"Sorry," John said.

"A John Winchester apology. That's pretty rare," Dean smiled. "anyway, the whole demon army thing wasn't the grand plan. Sam was supposed to be Lucifer's vessel. He did end up letting Lucifere possess him, but just long enough so that he could jump back in the cage with him. This is a really, really, really long story that i don't really feel like going into all the details, but he was basically down there for ayear, whichis like a century hell time. It messed him up pretty bad for a while."

"So, he was alone in a cage with the devil for a hundred years?" Mary asked, horrified.

Dean sighed. So much had happened in the last 10 years and almost none of it good. "not exactly. The archangel Michael was also in there. He was possessing Adam Milligan at the time." He decided not to call him "your son" since he didn't want to get into it. Besides, Adam's fate was easier to bear if he was just some random guy, and not the brother he had met only briefly.

"So, Adam was tortured for a hundred years also?"

"He's still there," John admitted.

"With Michael and the devil?"

"Actually the devil is out, so just Michael," Dean said, realizing he had no idea what had become of the devil after amara had blasted him out of Cas.

"So, Michael's the good guy. No more torture?" John wondered if Dean knew that Adam was his brother. He had to know that John knew him or he wouldn't have bothered with a name.

"I wouldn't count on it. Look, dad, I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know how to get him out."

"Who is this Adam guy?" Mary asked, realizing that everyone seemed to know him except her.

Dean looked at his father. "My son," John answered. "I had no idea Sam and Dean even knew him, though."

"We didn't really. We found out about him after the ghoul you were hunting when you met his mom killed them. The angels brought him back to life for Michael to possess. Sam and I met him briefly before that happened. Seemed nice." Dean wasn't sure what you said about your half-brother to the father who had hidden him from you. "Why didn't you ever tell us about him?"

"i wanted to keep him out of hunting. Bang up job there, I guess."

"When he died, he was a pre-med student in college. I think he had a nice, happy, normal life," Dean said. "you know, until..."

"I'm sorry, John," Mary said. The loss of a child was the worst thing that could happen. And it wasn't as if he had cheated on her. She was dead at the time. Probably for a while.

"Thanks. I never really knew him all that well. I would show up twice a year, take him to a baseball game, hunting, or fishing, and then pretty much forget about him until the next time. I was a crappy father to all my kids."

"That's not true, Dad," Dean protested. "You did the best you could."

"You'd never hear Sammy say that, I'm sure," John countered.

"Actually he has," Dean replied truthfully. "I'll admit I was pretty surprised."

"Mary, I kicked Sam out of the family because he wanted to go to college. He went to Stanford on a full-ride. Most parents would have been proud. I was proud. I was just scared. I didn't know everything yet, but I knew everything was about him somehow and I wanted to keep him close. But, instead of letting him in on everything, I pushed him away and ended up getting his girlfriend killed."

"His girlfriend?" Mary asked.

"Jessica." Dean answered. "She was killed like you. The yellow-eyed demon had another demon possess one of Sam's friends, introduced him to Jess, and then killed her to get sam back into hunting. He blamed himself for that for a long time. Actually, who am I kidding? He still blames himself for that."

"Was she nice?" Mary asked.

"I just met her a couple of days before she died. She was beautiful. And I assume smart since she was going to Stanford. Sammy never really talked about her much and I didn't want to intrude."

"Well, this was a lot to take in. Is supper ready?" Mry asked.

SSS

Jodie walked into the hospital. "He's awake?"

"More or less," the doctor answered. "He's not particularly coherent at the moment."

They walked into the room. "You get a name yet?" Jodie asked. "If Sam was too out of it, she'd have to come up with some other way of finding out his name was sam Winchester and Dean's contact info."

"Not yet."

There was a groan from the bed. "Pain killers?" Jodie asked.

"We've given him morphine. You know we can't give him too much."

"I know," Jodie said. "Just can't stand to see someone in pain."

Sam's eyes opened. "Hi, can you tell me your name?" Jodie asked, hoping Sam would be with it enough to not let on he knew her. Or barring that, out of it enough to not know her.

"Sam" Sam whispered.

Luckily the doctor's pager went off. "I'll be back a little later," he said.

jodie sighed a breath of relief. Less subterfuge would be needed of the drugged up and in pain Sam.

"Where are we?" Sam asked.

"Sioux Falls General. You needed a hospital and we needed me in charge of the investigation."

Sam started to nod but that set fireworks off in his head.

"Dean?"

"Now that you're awake, you can give me the contact info of your family. I'm sure they'll be here shortly."

Sam wasn't sure what she meant by they. Dean was his only family. Maybe Cas. That woudl be good. Cas could probably heal him and take all the pain away. if he wanted to.

"Can I go back to sleep now?" Sam asked.

"That's up to the doctor," Jodie said as the doctor walked back in the room.

"You have what you need?" the doctor asked Jodie.

"Yep. I'm going to make a couple of phone calls and get Sam's family here."

"Sam, is it?" The doctor asked. "We just need to do some tests and then you can go back to sleep.

SSS

"it's Jodie," Dean said as he checked his display. "Is he awake?" he answered the phone.

Jodie was going to do some smart remark like hello, to you, too, but decided against it. "Yes. You can come on up now."

"How is he?"

"I'm not going to lie, Dean. He's in a lot of pain. But, the doctor doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with him that time won't cure. Nothing physically anyway."

"Right. See you in a few hours." Dean knew all about emotional scars. "Let's go," he said to his anxious parents who were already standing up with their jackets on.

SSS

"Mom? Dad? I wasn't hallucinating before?" Sam asked as his family walked into the room.

"'fraid not," John joked.

"How?" he asked Dean.

"Amara. I'll tell you later."

"how are you not dead?"

"Chuck and Amara reconciled."

"Good." Sam always liked a happy ending.

"How are you feeling?" Mary asked, deciding immediately that that was a stupid question.

"I'm OK," Sam lied. "Where's Cas?" Angelic healing was sounding better and better.

"Sorry, buddy. Your friend blasted him to Siberia. He'll be a while trying to get back. who was she anyway?"

"Men of Letters, British chapter."

"What?" Dean was trying to make sense of that. "Shouldn' she be our ally or something?"

"She says we do it all wrong. And hunters in america aren't very effective. She's dead, right?"

"Yeah, Sammy. She's gone."

"Good." Sam wasn't usually vindictive, but he was making an exception in her case.

"So, how are you really?" Dean asked.

Sam looked towards the door. Dean took the hint and closed it. "What is it?"

"You saw how she was burning me, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I saw." Once again, he wanted to bring here back to kill her again and again and again.

"Well, before that she was pouring freezing cold water over me," Sam said, nearly ready to burst into tears.

"OK," Dean said, confused. Of everything that had happened to him, freezing cold water looked like it would be the least of it. John and Mary also shared a confused look.

"Remember back in Detroit when the devil said he runs cold?" Sam asked, but didn't wait for a response. "Well, it's true. Lucifer's touch is cold, but Hell itself is hot. The combination brought it all back. Well, that and my recent encounter with Lucifer."

"So, what exactly are you saying, Sam?" Dean asked.

"When I close my eyes, I can't get the cage out of my head. The pain, the fear, the heat, Lucifer's cold touch." He shuddered.

Dean hoped this wasn't going to be a repeat of 4 years ago.

"Just think about something else, Sammy. Suck it up. It's over." John said, trying to be helpful.

"Seriously?" Dean asked. Granted, John apparently couldn't remember his time in Hell and hadn't been around for his and Sam's resurrections, but it still sounded ridiculous.

"Yes, sir," Sam said not wanting to fight.

That was when John realized something was really wrong. 


	5. Chapter 5

The doctor said there was nothing wrong with Sam that time and rest wouldn't fix. Of course, they wanted to keep him for observation, but their fake insurance wouldn't stand up to that kind of scrutiny, so they left. On the ride back, Dean and John sat in the front seat, while Sam slept in the back with his head on Mary's lap.

"That can't be very comfortable," Dean remarked in a soft voice, at one point.

"After what he's been through, I don't think I can complain about being a little cramped," Mary pointed out. "What's really weird is that to me, a couple of weeks ago, he was 6 months old. I could carry him around. How did something so small get to be so huge?"

John chuckled. "I actually watched it happen and I can't believe it."

"Here we are," Dean said. "Speaking of nobody wanting to carry him, you'd better wake him up."

"Sam," Mary said, and tapped him on the shoulder.

Sam jerked awake violently.

"I'm sorry."

Sam looked around and realized he was with his family. Not with that crazy British chick and not back in Hell. "may fault," he said.

They all walked up to Sam's room and he got in bed. "I'm kind of awake now. Can you all stay and keep me company?"

John, Mary, and Dean pulled up chairs.

"Sam, Dean told me that he travelled back in time twice and met us then. Did you come, too?" Mary asked.

"Wait, what?" John hadn't heard about this, yet.

"Yeah," Dean answered. "A couple of years after you died, I went back in time and met you in 1973, then a little over a year later, both Sam and I went back and met you in 1979."

"Why don't I remember?" John asked.

"An angel wiped your memories," Sam supplied.

"So, wait, 1973, did you meet my dad, Dean?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance. "Uh, yeah," Dean said, he didn't want to tell her about meeting him later.

"What was that look?" Mary asked.

They exchanged another look. "Out with it," Mary said in her best "mom" voice.

"Samuel came back from the dead, too. This demon named Crowley brought him back to capture alpha monsters."

Too much weird in that sentence, Mary decided. She just cut to the chase. "Is he still alive?"

"No, I shot him while he was possessed by a monster," Sam said avoiding her eyes.

"I'm sure he was great the first time around, Mom, but death changed him or something. He was not a good person," Dean added.

Sam didn't want to think about his soulless year. He had all of his memories of it since the wall broke and Samuel had at least been a better person than he was.

Mary couldn't imagine her father being a bad person, but she decided to let the suject drop. he was dead now. It wasn't as if Sam murdered him. These things happene din the hunting world.

"So, I assume no grandchildren?" Mary asked.

"Nope," Sam and Dean said in unison.

"not to change the subject, but I was sorry to hear about Bobby," John said. That man had been as much of a father, maybe even a better one, to the boys as he had. "What happened?"

"Shot in the head," Dean said. "About 5 years ago."

"Who's Bobby?" Mary asked.

"A real good friend," Sam said, not wanting to hurt his father's feelings by saying their second dad.

"Did you guys ever discover the Roadhouse? There's some people there that might be real interested in this bunker," John said, mainly thinking of Ash. He tried not to think of Ellen and little Joe. He would alway blame himself for Bill.

Sam and Dean exchanged another look. "Yeah, it burned down. With a lot of hunters inside," Dean shivered as he remembered the ashes and bones that he and Bobby discovered that day.

"Ellen and Jo?" John asked.

"No, but they died later," Sam answered, knowing a lot of these deaths were directly on him. Him and his destiny thta he never seemed to fight hard enough.

"Is anybody I know still alive?" john asked.

"A few of your more distant acquaintances," Dean said. "Bobby, Ellen, and Jo are gone. You already know about Jim and Caleb. Jefferson died of a heart attack a couple of years ago, if you can believe that." He was one of the few hunters he knew of that died of natural causes.

"Hey, I met this one really gung ho hunter I really liked once. His name was Gordon Walker. He still around."

Sam had been taking a sip of water and he started coughing it out.

Dean laughed. "not big fans of his. He's dead."

"How did he die?" John asked.

"He turned into a vampire and Sam decapitated with with barbed wire. It was the coolest thing ever."

"You're sick, Dean," Sam said shaking his head.

"Not his fault if he got turned. That why you don't like him?" John asked.

"No. I hated him because he was always trying to kill Sam. Because he was psychic and evil as far as Gordon was concerned."

"You're pshychic?" Mary asked.

"Not anymore. Because of the demon blood that Yellow Eyes dripped in my mouth, I would have visions. Usually involving something to do with him or the other kids he did that, too. But, when he died, those went away." He wondered if he should tell them about how he drank demon bloods and had the other psychic powers of exorcising and killing demons. He stole a glance at Dean. Dean gave a subtle shake of the head. Dad would probably scream his head off and Mom was just getitng to know Sam. This wasn't good first impression material.

Sam yawned.

"We should probably all get some sleep," John said.

SSS

Sam woke up. He felt the room getting really hot. Like really, really, really hot, and a red light shone under the door. "Hello?" he asked.

The door opened, and the red light now totally infused the room.

"Hiya, Sammy."

"Lucifer," Sam breathed. He looked like Nick. That was impossible. So, this had to be a dream. "You're not real."

"Are you sure about that?" Lucifer asked as he approached the bed.

Sam stood up. "Dean!" he yelled.

"I don't think we want Dean horning in on our fun, do we, Sammy?" Lucifer asked as he pushed Sam back down on the bed.

Sam tried to get up again, but found he couldn't move. Lucifer put his ice cold hands under Sam's shirt and pulled away until the shirt ripped in two pieces.

"Please, don't," Sam whispered. He knew what was coming next.

"you know I love it when you beg, Sammy."

He did know that, but didn't seem to ever be able to deny him that pleasure. Lucifer pulled up his right hand and it morphed into Freddy Kruger's. Sam just watched as it descended towards his belly. "DEEAAANNNNN!" He screamed as it tore into his tender flesh. 


	6. Chapter 6

John, Mary, and Dean all raced out into the hallway about the same time. "DEAN!" they heard again. "Help me, please!"

they ran into Sam's room, Dean leading the way.

"Sammy, wake up," Dean shouted, shaking his brother.

"Dean?" Sam looked around. Had he screamed because of a nightmare? How embarrassing.

"What was it?" Dean asked, while JOhn and Mary watched awkwardly.

"Lucifer," Sam whispered. He would never admit this to Dean, but he was always afraid that if he said his name too loudly, he would show up.

"It's OK," Dean said. The last time Sam was having hell nightmares Dean had been able to assure him the devil was securely locked in the cage. Now, he had no idea where he was.

"Sorry I woke everybody up," Sam said. He felt weird with his parents staring at him.

"Dude, what happened to your shirt?" Dean asked.

Sam looked down and it was torn just like in the dream. "Lucifer ripped it open," Sam said in a panic. It must have been real.

"Calm down," Dean said, knowing what Sam was thinking. "You probably did that yourself, acting out the dream."

"But, I was paralyzed in the dream," Sam protested.

"Sammy, do you think if Lucifer were actually here, he would have been scared off when we ran into the room. I know I'm awesome and all, but still."

"You're probably right," Sam said, not really sure, but not wanting to worry Dean anymore.

"Go back to sleep, Sammy," John said, thinking his youngest looked totally beat.

"Are you insane?" Sam huffed out. He was never sleeping again. Oh, no, not that again. OK, he would sleep again, but not right now.

"Go to sleep, Sam. That's an order." John walked out of the room to head back to his own. He was worried about Sam, but he knew what was best for him.

"John," Mary said following him back to their room where they had spent the night so far, laying side by side, not saying a word, not touching, and not sleeping. "A little harsh don't you think?"

"He needs sleep. Did you see how exhausted he looked."

"Well, I won't argue about that," Mary conceded, "but I don't think you can order him back to sleep. He's a grown man."

"He's my son. I know what's best for him. Even if he doesn't always see it."

Sam and Dean could hear their parents arguing from Sam's room. "Great. Now I made them fight," Sam grumbled.

"It's not your fault, Sam. We're all going to have to get used to each other again. And Mom and Dad only parented really little kids together. Potty training me was probably the biggest challenge they faced as parents together."

"We're adults, Dean. I don't really know that we need 'parenting.'"

"Well, whatever," Dean got up to leave.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Sammy."

Sam was more embarrassed than he could ever remember being, but he had to ask. "Could you sleep in here tonight?" He waited for the snarky comments or insults.

"Whoah, you're really freaked out. You've never asked me that before."

"When I was having the Lucifer nightmares before I didn't have to ask. We always shared a motel room," Sam pointed out.

That was true. Dean hadn't thought about it, but before the point that he had just given up on sleep altogether, Sam had always waited until Dean was back from hustling pool or drinking or hooking up, before he would go to bed. He always claimed to have needed to do some research, or wanting to see some movie on TV. How could he have been so blind?

"Yeah, Sammy, I'll stay."

SSS

"You're looking better," John said as Sam and Dean walked into the kitchen.

"Are you making breakfast?" Sam asked.

"Just bacon and eggs. Don't get too excited," John answered.

"That's what I assumed. It's the only thing I ever remember you making. That and frozen pizza."

"You boys didn't starve to death," John grumbled. "So, we should find out more about these British Men of Letters. In case more of them come for us."

Sam couldn't repress his shudder. "Maybe we should move out of the bunker. We're kind of sitting ducks here. What we once thought of as the most secure place on earth has probably become one of the most dangerous for us."

"Since when do we run?" John asked.

"There's a difference between running and minimizing your risk," Mary argued. She thought that Sam might have a point.

"No, this is our home. We need to make a stand," Dean decided.

Dad and Dean ganging up on me again, Sam thought. Mom's on my side, though. He wondered if that would become the new family dynamic. Dean and John against Sam and Mary. For now he just shrugged. Dad wanted to research them and he had to admit they probably had the best resources for that here. And maybe there would be some way to warn of their approach for next time.

John noticed that Sam once again wasn't arguing with him. He wondered if the kid had finally grown up or if something else was going on.

"Let's get some motion detecting camera up around the perimeter that will alert us when there's movement," Sam said. "Whether we're here or not. I don't want to walk into another ambush."

"Good thinking," John praised.

Sam snapped his head towards John. That may have been the first compliment he'd ever gotten from the man.

SSS

Later, Sam had gone down to the archives and found the documentation for every other branch of the Men of Letters. There were several. The British, French, Russian, Southeast Asia, Egypt, Australia, plus about a dozen others.

"We better hope they don't all gang up on us," Dean said as he hauled Sam's find upstairs. "We've got some reading to do," he announced to his parents.

Mary groaned. "Research was always my least favorite part of hunting."

"Mine, too," Dean commiserated.

"So, we're all in agreement," John said, happily, reveling in the family harmony.

Well, not all of us, Sam thought. But, no need to point out, he was the oddball.

SSS

"Well, that seemed like a fat waste of time. We spent from breakfast until midnight reading and learned nothing useful," Dean summed up.

"Yeah, it's a little outdated," Sam pointed out the obvious. They knew it would be, but hoped that there would be something helpful somewhere.

"Well, we'll try something different tomorrow," John said. He put his arm around Mary as they headed upstairs. They had somehow managed to bond overe their hatred of research today and he was hoping to continue their progress of getting to know one another again in the bedroom. (A/N I did not mean to make that sound so creepy and gross, but without leaving it out altogether don't really know how to fix it, so just live with it).

"Do you want me to sleep with you again?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. He did, but there was only one bed in his room and Dean had ended up sleeping on two chairs and had looked really uncomfortable when Sam woke up and seemed stiff all day. He was a big boy. He should be able to sleep on his own.

"You sure?" Dean asked, sensing hesitation.

"I'm sure. Last night was an aberration. I love doing research, so I'm in a good mood now,, which should mean no nightmares, right?"

"Right," Dean agreed, more out of optimism than actual belief.

SSS

Sam woke up to a hot room and a red light under the door again. "Oh no. Wake up," he said to himself.

"Sammy," Lucifer said as the door swung open.

"go away," Sam said and rolled over. If he ignored him, maybe he would go away.

Sam gasped as he felt Lucifer's icy cold fingers gripping his biceps. "Get up, Sammy."

"Get up? Why?" Lucifer usually tortured him or raped him lying down.

Lucifer yanked him up and slapped his hand over his mouth. "Becaue I don't want to be disturbed tonight." Sam found himself transported to Crowley's throne room.

"Why are we here?" Sam asked.

"I told you. I don't want to be disturbed." He pushed Sam down onto a cold metal table. "New shirt?" he asked, as he ripped it in the same manner as the night before.

"DEAN!" Sam yelled. He really needed to wake up.

"Dean, can't hear you here," Lucifer said and ripped Sam's pants off.

"No," Sam cried.

"Yes," Lucifer countered and flipped Sam over on his belly. Sam tried to think of anything else besides what was happening to him. Of course, he failed.

"Was that good for you?" Lucifer whispered, a he flipped Sam back onto his back.

Lucifer started tearing Sam's shirt into strips. "What are you doing?" Sam asked.

Lucifer didn't answer him, but stuck one strip in his mouth and tied another around his head to keep it in. Then he blindfolded him. Sam felt a gust of air, then he felt his hands lifted up and cuffed around a pole or something above his head. Lucifer's cold hands were pulling the ropes tighter and Sam let out another whimper.

"Ah, music to my ears. You've been whimpering so beautifully all night."

Sam felt his legs being forced apart and he was afraid Lucifer was going to take him again, but his feet were just being chained to something. Lucifer whispered into his ear again, "Good night, Sammy." Then Sam felt a cold touch to his forehead and felt himself slipping away.

SSS

Sam woke up and tried to open his eyes. He couldn't see anything. He tried to move. He was all tied up. Last night came back to him. It was all real. He was with the devil. He started screaming behind the gag. 


	7. Chapter 7

"Sammy, shh, shh!"

The blindfold was ripped off and Sam saw Dean standing before him. He was in his own room. How had he gotten back here. Dean was taking the gag off. "What happened?" Dean asked, looking around him for scary British chicks or something.

"Lucifer," Sam whispered.

"Oh, Sammy," Dean said sadly. "How did you manage to do this to yourself in your sleep?"

"What?" You don't think I did this to msyelf?" Sam was incredulous.

"What happened?" Dean asked as he started undoing locks.

Sam relayed everything that happened in his dream, ommitting the details. "It was real," he insisted.

"But, it happened in Crowley's throne room," Dean pointed out.

Sam nodded.

"How did you get back here?"

"Lucifer must have zapped me back after he blindfolded me."

"But why? If Lucifer had his plaything," dean mentally kicked himself as he saw his little brother's reaction to being called the devil' plaything. "Sorry. But, if he had you where he wanted you, why tie you up and send you back to your own bed?"

Sam didn't have an answer to that.

"And why send your clothes back?" Dean lifted up Sam's torn clothes. "And why leave the keys on your nightstand?"

"I don't know," Sam cried. "I'm not crazy."

"I didn't say you were. But, you went through a trauma. It's bringing back memories of a worse trauma. You're acting it out in your sleep." Dean suddenly stopped and got a frightened look on his face.

"What is it?" Sam asked. Maybe he finally beleived him.

"You could really hurt yourself."

Sam rolled his eyes. It would be himself hurt him.

"We'll figure something out," Dean said, ignoring the eye roll. "Maybe Dad made bacon and eggs again."

"Can we not tell them about last night?" Sam begged. If nobody was going to believe him he'd rather they not know.

"Sure," dean agreed, not wanting to unduly worry his parents.

SSS

Sam and John were up in the trees putting up the new security equipment they had bought.

"I thought I heard some muffled yelling this morning," John said. "You and Dean aren't fighting, are you?"

"No, sir. Just another nightmare."

"Don't you think you're a little old to be afraid of nightmares?" John asked.

Sam didn't think they were nightmares, but that wasn't hte point at the moment. As they reached the ground, he said, "You have no idea what I went through."

"Well, from what I understand dEan went to Hell, too, and he's over it."

"Well, we all know that Dean is just stronger than me. And more obedient. I'm sure if hell did bother him and you told him to suck it up and not be scared he would just hop to like a good little soldier." Sam stalked back to the bunker.

"You're back," Mary needlessly annouonced. "Your brother and I thought it would be nice if we all went out to lunch."

Sam was about to refuse. He didn't want to be anywhere near his dad right now. But his mother had such a huge smile he couldn't say no. "Just give me a few minutes to clean up." And cool off.

"OK."

SSS

"So, what was it like when you were all living together as a family?" Mary asked after they had ordered their food.

"Loud," Dean said remembering all the fighting.

"What?" Mary asked.

"Sam could get a little stubborn," John expanded.

"Yep. I'm the only stubborn one in this family," Sam said sarcastically.

Dean regretted his first impulse answer. "It wasn't all bad. We had some fun." He couldn't think of any at the moment, but he knew it was there.

"My biggest regret as a parent is not being tougher on Sam when they were kids. That's why Sam's so much weaker."

"Dad!" Dean protested. Sam was a lot of things, but weak wasn't one of them.

"You both went to Hell, but Sam is falling apart over it years later. You probably were fine from the get-go."

"First of all, I'm not sure why you're being such a jerk. Second of all, I was not fine from the get-go. Third Sam was there a lot longer and in much worse circumstances."

"No. Maybe Dad is right. I am just weak."

"Sam, I didn't mean anything by it, other than that I don't like seeing you like this. The nightmares, the screaming. The exhaustion."

"Well, I don't exactly like it, either, Dad, but I can't just flick a switch and turn it off. And it's not like I can go see a pychiatrist and tell them how Lucifer was my old roommie. I'd end up in a looney bin for all the wrong reasons." Sam had to admit there were probably right reason for him to end up in the looney bin.

There food came and they all ate in silence.

SSS

"Sam, I'm going to cuff you so you won't hurt yourself tonight," Dean said dangling the cuffs in front of Sam.

"Can't you just stay in here and watch me sleep?" If Lucifer was real, he didn't want to be all trussed up waiting for him. Then again, not being restrained didn't really help against a being who could paralyze him with a look.

"I'm going to, but what if I sleep through whatever happens?"

"Alright, but, not too tight, OK?"

"You got it."

SSS

Sam woke up. He wasn't hot, though. That was a relief. Just normal waking up in the middle of the night. He kind of had to go to the bathroom, though. He looked over and Dean looked so peaceful. He decided he could hold it. Lucifer popped up beside Dean.

Sam opened his mouth to wake him up, but Lucifer touched Dean's forehead and Dean slumped over even further. "Your brother has a real faith problem, doesn't he? Why won't he believe I'm real."

"Because you're not?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Be right back," Lucifer said and disappeared and then reappeared with something in his hands. Sam's eyes widened when he saw it.

Lucifer reached into Dean's pockets and pulled out the keys to the cuffs. Then, he undid Sam's hands and pushed him onto the floor. he then moved dean ontot he bed. "Leave him alone," Sam yelled worried that Lucifer was going to turn his attentions onto Dean.

Lucifer laughed. "Don't worry, Sammy. You're the only one I want. And lucky for you, I put your parents into heavy sleep before coming in here." He then picked Sam up like he weighed nothing and put him on the chair Dean had been dozing in. He lifted Sam's shirt up over his head. "I'm sick of ripping your clothes." He cuffed Sam's hands behind him. Then he picked up the barbed wire Sam had seen in his hands earlier.

"No," he begged.

Lucifer ignored him as he wound it tightly around Sam's torso and the chair. Little pinpricks sprouted blood all over his upper body. Then Lucifer pushed up Sam's pants and wound some around his ankles.

"Bye, bye, Sammy," Lucifer said and disappeared.

"Dean," Sam tried to wake his brother. "Dean." Nothing. Eventually he drifted off to sleep.

"Sammy, wake up."

sam' eyes popped open. Dean was standing over him and undoing the cuffs. "how did you sleep?"

"It really was a dream," Sam sighed in relief.

"I told you," Dean smiled. 


	8. Chapter 8

"You know it's kind of crazy considering the fact that I slept sitting in a chair, but I had the best sleep ever last night," Dean said.

"I did, too," John and Mary said at the same time.

Sam and Dean exchanged a smile. It was weird to hear their parents talk at the same time. That was kind of their thing.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Sam asked. He knew they couldn't really afford any down time. He wasn't up to fighting monsters, but there were other things to be done.

Almost as if he had read his mind, John said, "I found us a hunt."

"Sam's not ready to hunt," Dean protested.

"I know that, Dean. I'm not an idiot. You and me. Mary and Sam can see what else they can find out on the Brits."

Sam nodded. Sounded fine to him. He didn't like Dean hunting alone or with strangers, but whatever else you had to say about his dad, he was great back up.

"Why don't you stay and I hunt?" Mary countered.

"Mom, no," Dean said. He kind of felt like a sexist, but he worried too much about his mom and it affected his concentration.

"Why don't all three of you go?" Sam could use some alone time.

"you sure?" John asked.

"Yeah. All the equipment is working so nobody can sneak up on me. Three is safer than two."

"OK," Dean said grudgingly.

SSS

"So what are we hunting?" Dean asked in the car.

"Ghost," John answered.

"How mundane," Dean joked, trying to remember their last ghost hunt. He thought it might have been the internet thing. Even that had a weird twist.

"Don't get cocky, Dean."

"Sorry, Dad. Details?"

"It's the wife of a rock star. The rock star's drummer has been killed. The rock star's disappeared."

"how do you know the rock star didn't kill him?"

"Because the rock star had been saying he had been seeing his wife for days. She was taunting him, blaming him for his death. It was really affecting his work. They were thinking drugs, but now, I'm not so sure. The drummer was thrown across the room."

"OK," they had checked out less.

SSS

Sam stretched and stood up. The internet was not being particularly helpful today. He turned aroudn. "Who are you?" And how did you get in here without me noticing? he thought to himself?

"Come on, sammy, you don't recognize your old bunk buddy. i got a new outfit. What do you think?"

"It makes you look like you wear too much makeup." Really, that's your best comeback to the devil. "What do you want?"

"I thought I told you last night. All I want is you."

"That was a dream," Sam said uncertainly. Maybe the internet had lulled him to sleep.

"No, I was just messing with you. Come on, Sammy, we make a great team. Let me in."

"Why would I do that?" Sam asked.

Lucifer grabbed Sam's arm. Sam couldn't see him any more, but he could feel him. "What are you doing?" he asked as Lucifer led him outside.

"Putting on a show for those cameras you installed. Your family is going to see you walking away of your own volition. I've made myself invisible. And with all the crazies you've been putting on, well they won't be checking with me."

Sam started struggling. "Now it will look strange?"

"Will it? You've been cutting your clothees and cuffing yourself to your bed."

When they got aroud the corner, Lucifer flew them to Crowley's dungeon. "You can rot here until you decide to say yes," he informed Sam as he chained him to the wall.

"That will never happen," Sam said as Lucifer disappered.

"Hello, Samuel."

Sam turned to see another figure chained to the wall. "Rowena, what are you doing here?"

"Lucifer wants me to translate the Book of the Damned."

"But, we have that," Sam pointed out. It was hidden and warded. They would have destroyed it, but it was indestructible.

"Why do you think you're really here, Samuel? Lucifer knows you're not going to let him in."

"I'm also not going to tell him where the book is."

"No, but Dean might."

"He wouldn't do that," Sam said not entirely sure. "Besides, Lucifer went to great lengths to make sure that Dean thought I was crazy and had run away. If he just wanted to ransom me for the book why do all that?"

"Because you're right. Dean wouldn't just give the book to Lucifer. Lucifer is the original con man. He has some sort of grand plan. I guarantee you that."

Sam just wasn't seeing how this made any sense.

SSS

Dean pulled over.

"What are you doing?" John asked.

"My phone just vibrated. It's the motion detector."

"Sammy?" Mary asked worriedly from the back seat.

Dean pulled up the app and watched. "It's Sam. He left."

"There's nobody there, but it looks like he's struggling," John said confused. "A ghost?"

"Ghosts can't get into the bunker. Plus they show up on camera even if you can't see them with the naked eye. I think Sam fell asleep and 'Lucifer' is kidnapping him. We'd better get back and find him."

"And forget about the job?" John couldn't believe this. There were lives at stake. Sam would wake up and be fine.

"Sam's more important," Dean insisted and turned the car around.

SSS

A man walked into their cell. "Who are you?" Rowena asked.

"My guess would be a demon," Sam said.

"Your guess would be wrong. My name is Mick. I'm with the British Men of Letters."

"Oh great," Sam said. he was going to be saved from Lucifer to be tortured by humans.

"Toni overstepped her bounds," Mick said as he freed Sam.

Sam wasn't convinced this guy wasn't a demon. Rowena should be able to recognize a demon, but he couldn't be certain Rowena wasn't here as a plant. "how did you get past Lucifer?"

"Angel repelling sigil."

"That doesn't work for long."

"Which is why I suggest we hurry," Mick said.

"What about me?" Rowena asked.

"I can either leave you or kill you," Mick decided.

"Leave me." Where there's life there's hope.

Once outside Sam punched Mick and ran. He jumped in the only vehicle he saw and attempted to hotwire it. All the locks locked.

"Magnificent anti-theft feature wouldn't you say," Mick said from outside the driver's door window.

Sam banged his head back against the seat. He was caught once again. 


	9. Chapter 9

"Sam, I'm here to help you," Mick shouted through the still closed door.

"Sure you are."

Suddenly Lucifer popped up behind Mick. "Look out!" Sam yelled.

"He's mine," Lucifer said, grabbing Mick. "I'll be back," he promised Sam and they both disappeared amongst a fluttering of wings.

Sam tried to open the door to no avail. He needed to get out of the car. First and foremost so he could be gone before Lucifer got back. And secondly because it was really hot in here. Black car. parked in the sun. He opened the glove compartment and found a gun. He smashed it against the window, trying to break. No good. Apparently the glass was unbreakable.

SSS

"Where are we going?" Mary wasn't quite oriented yet, but this didn't seem to be the way back to the bunker.

"Last dream Sam had he said Lucifer took him to Crowley's dungeon. That's my best guess on where to look for him."

"Who's Crowley?" John asked.

"A demon," Dean answered. "Sometimes he's the king of Hell. But, with Lucifer out there somewhere, I'm not sure who's in charge."

"Will he be there?" Mary asked.

"Hope not," was all Dean could say as he pushed the gas pedal closer to the floor.

SSS

They pulled up to the abandoned warehouse Crowley used as his earth headquarters.

"Who's car is that?" Mary asked. "It's not Crowley's, right?" She had never heard of demons driving cars, but then again there were lots of things she had never heard of that seemed to be very commonplace nowadays.

Dean glanced towards the warehouse and then back at the car. "We should probably check it out before we go in," he decided.

All three Winchesters pulled their guns out and warily approached the car. Dean was in the lead. When he got closed enough, he looked in through the window and saw Sam sprawled across the front seat.

"SAM!" he yelled and opened the door. "No, no, no," he said as he felt the heat escaping." He reached in to pull hi brother out. "He's alive," he said with relief and lowered him down onto the ground. Mary and John knelt down next to their two sons.

Sam took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Thank God," John let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"Lucifer brought me here."

"No, Sam. He didn't," John said sternly. "We saw the security footage. You were alone."

"That's because Lucifer made himself invisible so you would think I just took off on my own."

Dean sighed. Sam had an answer for everything just like that time. "So, where is he?"

"This other guy showed up. he said he was with the British Men of Letters. This is his car. Lucifer popped off with him somewhere and said he would be back."

"It wouldn't take lucifer long enough for you to pass out to pop somewhere and back," Dean reasoned. "Speaking of which why didn't you get out of hte car?"

"The doors were locked and wouldn't open and I couldn't break the window," Sam explained.

"The doors weren't locked. sam, you obviously stole this car, drove yourself here, and just sat in the car until you passed out," Dean said as gently as he could.

"Rowena," Sam said.

"What about her?" Dean asked.

"She's downstairs in the dungeons. She'll back up my story."

"Fine, we'll go check it out," Dean said.

"Who's Rowena?" Mary asked.

"Crowley's mother and a witch," dean answered.

"Demons have mothers?" John asked.

"Not good ones," Sam grumbled.

Dean laughed despite himself.

They reached the basement and opened the door to the cell. "It's empty," Dean pointed out.

"He must have moved her," Sam protested.

"Let's just go home," Dean said defeated.

SSS

Sam had gone upstairs to sulk. John, Dean, and Mary were in the kitchen.

"We need to get him some help," Mary said.

"how?" Dean asked. "They'll lock him up."

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing," John argued.

"Dad!"

"Dean, if we hadn't shown up when we did, Sammy could be dead. A psychiatrist might be able to help," John tried to reason.

"They won't help him if they don't believe him. They'll just think he's totally nuts."

"You mean instead of partially nuts?" Sam asked, walking into the room.

"That's not what I meant."

"Dad's right. So far I've only hurt myself, but that could change. I'd probably be better off locked up in some psych ward."

"No, Sammy. End of discussion."

"Then, what, Dean? What happens when I go to sleep tonight?"

"I'll watch you again. Nothing happened the night you were restrained and I watched you."

Nothing that you saw, Sam thought. "We can't do that forever."

"Maybe there's something in the archives," Dean said.

"For nightmares?" John asked skeptically.

"It won't hurt to look," Mary said.

"Fine. But, if we don't find anything today, I check into a hospital tomorrow," Sam stated firmly. He was not going to be a burden to his family or a danger to society forever. A mental hospital would be equipped to deal with him.

"We'll see," Dean said, non-comittally.

SSS

"Bingo," Dean said.

"You found something?" Sam looked up from the book he was reading. He had actually just been randomly reading stuff, since he had no faith in this working.

"Check out this picture," Dean held the book up.

"That's your amulet," John said. "But, I haven't seen it since I've been back."

"I, um, lost it a few years ago. God took it. He gave it back, but I figured while He was around I should hide it."

"Not even going to ask any questions," John decided, thinking the whole thing was crazy, beginning with Dean losing his prized possession besides the Impala.

"What does your amulet have to do with anything?" Sam asked.

"This says it has three purposes. God EMF, a key to something, and a nightmare repellent."

"You were wearing after you came back from the pit and you had nightmares," Sam remembered.

"But, I never confused them with reality. This doesn't say it gets rid of nightmares, but it dulls them. You'll just have normal nightmares. They'll suck, but it says here it keeps away hallucinations, sleepwalking and excessive terror."

"OK, we'll try it. Where is it?"

"It's in a hex box in my room. I'll go get it," Dean headed to his room.

John's curiosity overcame him, "How did Dean lose it."

"he didn't lose it. He threw it away."

"Why?"

Sam sighed. "Let's just say he was mad at me and leave it at that."

Dean walked back in the room and Sam hoped the subject was dropped. Dean handed the amulet to Sam. Sam slipped it over his head. It felt weird to be wearing this. The last time he wore it Dean was dead. "Thanks."

"Ready for bed?" Dean asked.

"About that," Sam said, "I think you should just lock me up downstairs tonight."

"You have the amulet," Dean said.

"It's untested. I don't want you to have to watch me. It's just for one night."

"Fine," Dean agreed. Sam would see that this worked and he wouldn't have to worry about him tonight.

Sam said good night to his parents and went downstairs with dean.

"If we're going to do this, I should chain you, Sam. This place is soundproof and if you hurt yourself I won't be able to hear it upstairs. If you really want to stay down here tonight you're on your own until morning."

Sam nodded. He had expected nothing less.

Against everything he believed in Dean fastened the shackles that had imprisoned Crowley for months around his brother's wrists. "You sure about this?" Dean asked.

"Good night, Dean," Sam said in answer.

SSS

"Hi, Sammy," the devil said.

"You can't hurt me tonight," Sam said.

"Oh, but I can," Lucifer said as he yanked the chains from the wall. Sam once again found himself in Crowley's dungeon. Except that it wasn't. It looked different somehow. At least he knew he couldn't actually get himself there tonight. When Dean came for him in the morning he would insist on the hospital. This dream was as real as the others.

"I needed this key," Lucifer said and ripped the amulet from Sam's neck. "So, I made you think you were crazy. I planated the book with the info about this amulet in the bunker and you finally, finally got it out for me. Thanks, Sammy."

"I told you he was a master manipulator," Rowena said from her place on the wall. "I was just wrong about what he wanted."

"All part of the plan," Lucifer said as he stroked Sam's cheek.

Was this real or wasn't it? Lucifer cuffed Sam's hands above a pole in the middle of the room and grabbed a whip. "This is going to be so much fun. We have so much lost time to make up for," Lucifer leered.

SSS

"Sammy, how'd it go last night?" Dean asked as he opened the door. He stopped cold. Sam was nowhere to be seen. The chains were ripped out from the wall. And the one thing Dean knew for certain was that nobody could escape this room without help. Sam hadn't been crazy after all. 


	10. Chapter 10

"Mom! Dad!" Dean ran up the stairs yelling for his parents.

"What is it, dean?" John wondered if Sam had been able to hurt himself after all last night.

"sammy's gone. Lucifer has him."

"Not you, too, Dean," John protested.

"Dad. He's not there. The chains are ripped from the walls. The door was still locked and he's gone. How do you explain that?"

"What will he do to him?" Mary asked, scared to death for his youngest son.

"Nothing good," Dean muttered under his breath.

SSS

"Morning, Sammy," Lucifer said coming into the room. He had decided to move Rowena to less pleasant accomodations.

Sam groaned. Lucifer had whipped him for what had seemed like half the night. "Water," he begged and hated himself for it.

Lucifer laughed. "Sure, Sammy," he said and threw a bottle of water in his face. Sam lapped up what he could, greedily.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Sam asked. "He had spent a century locked in a cage with Lucifer. He knew for a fact that he would rather be dead and away from him."

"I want you as my vessel. You really are the best one."

"That will never happen," Sam would never ever ever say yes. he didn't care how much pain he was in.

"But, it will Sam. Do you know what that key you so thoughtfully provided me opens."

"No," Sam said, suddenly very afraid.

"It opens the control room in Heaven. God gave people free will. But everyone can be controlled through the control room. And I mean everybody. I will be the ultimate total ruler of the world."

Sam went pale. "Why are you wasting time whipping me, then. Why not just go open the door?" Sam knew he wasn't putting ideas into Lucifer's head. There had to be a reason he wasn't already being the ultimate ruler.

"Well, that's the problem. The key isn't the only thing i was lacking. I need to get into Heaven and have a look around. And, while I am the strongest angel, if too many gang up against me, I won't win in a fight."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I have a plan. Don't worry," Lucifer said as he patted Sam on the head.

SSS

"Do you think he'll be at Crowley's dungeon again?" Mary asked.

"I don't know. I'll go check."

"You mean we'll go check," Mary corrected him.

"You guys get that this is the devil, right? There is no way to kill him. This is a suicide mission."

"Dean," Mary said.

"Maybe we should figure out a strategy first," John suggested.

"And leave Sam with the devil?" Mary demanded.

"Guys, stop fighting. I'll go try to sneak him out."

"And how likely is that to work?" John asked.

"Not very," Dean admitted.

SSS

Lucifer cast the spell to put all angels to sleep for 12 hours. He went into Heaven and stepped over sleeping angels searching.

Heaven was a vast place. He was nearly out of time when he saw a door that must be the one. he tried the key and the door swung open.

SSS

John and Mary had insisted on going with him and Dean hadn't wanted to waste any more time. Sam had already been in the devil's cluthes all night and half the day. But they found Crowley's bunker empty. Dean had no idea where to go from there.

SSS

Sam was hanging uncomfortably from the chains when Lucifer popped up in front of him. Lucifer looked at him for a moment and punched him.

"Well, I can't sap humanity's free will." Another punch.

Sam was able to feel relief even through the pain. "Why not?"

"Even with access to the control room, you actually have to be God to do that." Lucifer punched Sam again. He had been prepping for this for weeks and nothing.

"What now?" Sam asked.

"Now, I at least will have you as my vessel."

"I'll never say yes," Sam was adamant

"Oh, I know. You're extremely stubborn for a human. But, I noticed that your little bunker is extremely well-stocked with things I have never even heard of. Maybe there's some way for an angel to gain access to a vessel without permission. Or, maybe if we go looking enough, I'll find the Book of the Damned. That probably has something useful in it."

"Good luck with that," Sam said, knowing that the Book wasn't even in the bunker. That's the first place anybody would look.

"Come on, you can watch me kill your family," Lucifer said as he free Sam's hands and clapped on an iron collar arond his neck. They flew back to the bunker and were there in the blink of an eye.

"Nobody's here," Lucifer observed.

That's good, Sam thought. They have to be looking for me and hopefully they won't come back until they find me.

Lucifer gave a tug on Sam's leash. "Let's do some reading." He zapped all the books from the archives into the den.

"Why don't we just do this back at your dungeon?" Sam asked

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Keep your family safe. No, it's high time I took care of Dean once and for all. Now, sit down and shut up." Lucifer pushed Sam down in a chair and affixed the chain from his collar to it. He then touched Sam's throat. Sam knew from his experience down in the cage that he would be mute until Lucifer was lonely for his voice again.

SSS

Lucifer was reading at breakneck speed. He could read an entire book in 30 seconds. He was just finishing his latest tome when they heard the door open. Sam tried to call out a warning, but couldn't make a sound.

"Sam," Dean said. Lucifer was in another vessel. He recognized it as that rock star from the case they had dropped. That seemed like a million years ago.

"Dean so glad you could join us," Lucifer said.

Dean had taught his parents about angel sigils. They had several hidden. Mary ducked down and touched one while Lucifer was concentrating on Dean. Lucifer was zapped away.

"We gotta get out of here. I think Sam was right when he said we should have moved." Dean rushed down the stairs to Sam and unlocked the chain from around the chair. "I'm not sure I can get the collar off," Dean said. He couldn't see any lock or anything. It was just a seamless ring of metal.

Mary was taking in Sam's appearance. His face was all black and blue. His shirt was torn to ribbons and he could see welts on his torso. Sam stood up painfully.

"Ready?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded.

"Are you OK, son?" John asked.

Sam nodded again, and started walking to the door. they had to get out of there before Lucifer returned. They were warded, but that didn't do much good when the devil knew your address.

As they headed out the door, they were greeted by a familiar sight.

"Cas," Dean said. "You made it back."

"it wasn't easy. Sam, what happened to you?"

When Sam didn't answer, Dean said, "Lucifer."

Cas touched him and all Sam's bruises and whip marks dissappeared. he found he could speak again. "he wanted your amulet, Dean."

"What? Why?"

"It's the key to Heaven's control room. To control everyone's free will. Luckily, he can't use it."

"Yes, only God can do that. I'm surpried Lucifer didn't know that," Cas said.

"He wanted to make everyone think I was crazy and a danger to myself so we'd have to use the amulet."

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," John said.

"Wow, an apology from John Winchester. That's pretty rare," Sam joked.

"I mean it," John continued. "I've been kind of hard on you, but that was only because I was worried. I just wanted to order you to be better."

"I know, Dad. It's hard when there's nothing you can do."

"So, if Lucifer can't use the key what were you doing here?" Dean asked.

"Lucifer wants the Book of the Damned. Barring that, he wants to find a way that angels can possess a vessel without permission."

"But, he has a vessel," John pointed out.

"He wants his true vessel," Sam said.

"Who's that?" Mary asked.

"Sam," Castiel answered.

"Is there a way?" Dean asked.

"I've never heard of one," Cas said.

"Let's just go," Sam said. "Looks like we're back to a life of motel rooms and living on the road."

"Well, at least we still have Baby," Dean smiled.

"And each other," Mary added.

The End 


End file.
